[IMC-Video] making good videos - afterthought irc

[Mara]

i have noticed repeatedly, that there is no viceo channel on irc. this 
could be helpful for people having concrete questions about anything 
related to filmmaking, or want feedback on videos they produce, and 
maybe even to spark some discussion. this is not the ultimate solution 
to everything, but it's a communication tool we are not using.


Steev Hise wrote:
> On May 8, 2008, at 8:38 PM, hamish wrote:
> 
>> Bens assumption that
>> we already know how to make videos - we don't, most activist videos  
>> only
>> make sense to the people who were on the action thus has very limited
>> use as outreach beyond this small activist ghetto.
> 
> I'm so glad that someone has said this out loud, because it's  
> something I think about a lot.  Evaluating and providing feedback on  
> the work produced by videoactivists is really important if we truly  
> care about actually reaching beyond that ghetto.
> 
> There's definitely a lot of room for improvement.  Beyond Hamish's  
> general critique above, I have the following short list of some  
> common problems:
> 
> * the videos often don't explain (enough of) the background  
> situation, or why anyone should care.
> * often they're too long.
> * they mostly feature talking heads - interviews, people giving  
> speeches at rallies, etc, with hardly any b-roll to illustrate
> and in these times of access to so much information and archival  
> material online, it is usually really easy to find stuff to use as b- 
> roll.  (or just shoot it at the time. and then use it when you're  
> editing!)
> * the editing style is often really basic and uninteresting.  long,  
> long takes of one person talking, no cutaways, no "pizazz" to give  
> people a reason to keep watching and not yawn and switch the channel  
> or click away to somewhere else, very little creative "oomph."
> 
> I honestly often just can't watch activist videos. ( Tho I have to  
> quite a bit since I edit the Indymedia Newsreal.)  In this era of  
> attention-deficit and information overload and just plain not much  
> time, if it's not fast and gripping, i'd rather read a paragraph  
> about the topic than sit through a 7 minute video. and i suspect a  
> lot of people are like that, especially those outside that - yes  
> here's that word again - activist ghetto.
> 
> I know that a lot of the problem is that editing is very time- 
> intensive, and difficult, and videoactivsts are often volunteers and  
> often don't have time to spend laboring over something.  Just getting  
> out on the street and shooting something is for many already a  
> sacrifice.  But people have to start considering that presentation is  
> extremely important.  Simply displaying "the truth" in raw form is,  
> sadly, not enough.  In our snazzy media-saturated age, truth has to  
> get dressed up and polished, or it won't go far.
> 
> I would love if we could have a little dialogue about this and how to  
> educate and inspire videoactivists to make better work, and not just  
> talk about technology strategy. Because no amount of wonderful  
> advances in distribution and tools will make much difference if the  
> content is stuff that most people won't be inclined to look at.
> 
> best wishes,
> 
> 
> steev
> 
> 
> Steev Hise | steev at detritus.net | http://detritus.net/steev
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
> -----
> "I've been an activist for more than 25 years, and I'm sick of being  
> in a
> sub-culture.  I'm sick of activism as a lifestyle. I want to win."
>                  - Stephen Duncombe
> 
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